Oh Sang-uk defends men's individual sabre fencing title at Asian Games

By Kim Boram

TOKONAME, Japan, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Oh Sang-uk captured the gold medal in the men's individual sabre fencing at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Wednesday, defending his Asiad title.

Oh, the reigning Olympic champion, defeated Shen Chenpeng of China 15-13 in the gold medal bout at Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, some 35 kilometers south of the main host city of Nagoya.

It is his second straight Asian Games title in the individual sabre event, following his gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, where he also won the team event.

Bronze medals went to Artyom Sarkissyan of Kazakhstan and Seyed Ali Esmaeilzadeh Pakdaman of Iran.

Oh is one of the most decorated fencers in men's sabre, a cutting and thrusting weapon that targets the body above the waist, including the arms and head.

He won an individual Olympic gold medal in 2024, and two team gold medals in 2020 and 2024.

He has collected four world championship titles, including an individual crown in 2019.

On the continental stage, Oh finished second in the individual event at the 2018 Asian Games and won gold at the 2023 competition. In the team event, he has won three Asian Games gold medals since the 2014 competition.

At the 2026 Asian Games, Oh's path to a second consecutive gold medal appeared to be going smoothly.

In the final, however, he suffered an ankle injury from the very start of the bout.

Right after the start of the first period, the two fencers collided, and Oh fell onto the piste, holding his right ankle for a while.

But Oh got back up and resumed the bout, ending the first period with an 8-7 lead.

In the second period, he fell behind 11-8 while turning his ankle a couple of times, but a big whip to his opponent's head gave him a decisive point and leveled the bout at 11-11.

From there, he rallied to reach 15 points and win the gold medal.